


Front Liner

by Hanzohara



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Forehead Kisses, Non-Consensual Groping, Panic Attacks, one bitch ass boy, who finna get murdered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanzohara/pseuds/Hanzohara
Summary: Caster class heroes aren't meant to stand at the head of the group lest they be targeted by enemies and overwhelmed at close range. No, it's better to have a Tank class hero at their side that gets the enemy off of them and keeps them safe from harm.





	Front Liner

**Author's Note:**

> RinSayo is so gd precious I love them... it was about time I wrote something for them
> 
> Also Face Mask = those Japanese Flu Masks, but Im p sure they aren't just called 'Flu Masks' but,,,, couldn't find it

“Alright, I’m heading out for the evening Sayo. I entrust the ground rounds to you.” 

Dark green gaze rises from the paperwork before her, regarding the retreating figure at the doorway. The treasurer of the disciplinary committee, Ayame, looks to her with a kind smile, backpack secured over both shoulders. Sayo gives her a brief nod in understanding, looking down to the paperwork on her desk and straightening out the stack. She’s gotten through a good majority of it, enough that the President should be able to finish it up tomorrow morning when she comes in. That’s good, it’ll be nice to catch up on some archery tomorrow. For now though, she ought to keep a level head- there’s still the entire campus to tend to, and the need to lock up the archery shed once she’s done.

“I’ll get to it shortly Ayame. I just need to finish filing these papers and return what’s left to Akira’s desk.”

“You got it. Make sure you don’t stay here all evening, I know how you get. Have a good night Sayo.”

“And you.” She gives another quick nod before she returns to the papers. Sayo raises to her feet as the slide of the door sounds, taking a moment to stretch out her legs before sidestepping and pushing the chair in. The stack of paperwork is held to her chest as she strides to the far end of the disciplinary office.

Akira’s desk is fairly tidy save for the nameplate that is askew over a manila envelope, and some assorted pens and pencils scattered over the right hand section of the desk. And there, that’s what she needed. A stack of light yellow sticky notes, the top of which she quickly peels off to slap on the top of the stack of papers. Sayo opts to borrow one of the pens that decorate the President’s desk, neatly scrawling down a note detailing what she had completed, and what little would need to be completed when she came in. Scribbling out her signature, Sayo takes a step back to survey her handiwork. Habit gets the better, and she quickly leans over the desk to neatly arrange the pens in a row.

There. Much better.

Turning on heel, Sayo returns to her desk to properly push in the chair and ensure her desk is impeccable. A couple stray pens are quickly placed in one of the drawers, and a hand sweeps over the face of the table to brush away the eraser shavings that remain from the earlier work. What remains are the folders and the binder that she had stowed away in one of her drawers, and she quickly stuffs those into her backpack. For a moment, she debated leaving it here to grab after she finished her rounds, but all things considered, she would much rather leave as soon as she locks up the shed, so the bag is slung onto her shoulders. Before heading out, Sayo pins on the armband usually reserved for the President, neat, black hiragana reading out the [ Disciplinary Committee Head ] over vibrant read material, and hastily reaches into one of the drawers to find another facemask she can cover her mouth with.

As luck has it, the one she picks out is a baby blue color. Not the most menacing look so to speak, but then again, Sayo can’t imagine she’ll run into many people. Clubs should be done, so it’s just a matter of making sure they have amply cleaned up their meeting locations. When she’s finally ready, smoothing out the wrinkles in the facemask before leaving the office and locking it behind her, pocketing the key.

As expected, there are very few people still on campus, most of which are just straggler athletic club members cleaning up their equipment and changing. She gives each of the groups she finds a warning that the school will be closing for the day before bidding them a curt farewell. Most of them redouble their efforts rapidly out of intimidation, she can see it as they straighten their backs. hear it as they speak in a mess of rushed words ensuring their departure before they get in trouble. Behind her facemask, Sayo’s lips quirk upward in amusement at their reactions, but her gaze remains steely as she continues the patrol. For all the clubs that remain on campus, there is very little in the way of actual trouble and it goes smoothly enough that she’s out of the school building proper and heading toward the archery shed in no time.

The shed stands there at the far end of the campus’ green, door left slightly ajar from the looks of it. Not far enough that the interior could be seen, but enough that Sayo can see the shadow the door casts on the wall to its side. Not immediately worrisome, given Sayo remembers Rinko had come to her that morning requesting to try archery once again in the evening. Against her better judgement, if only out of eagerness that Rinko wanted to try something out again, she had given her the advisor’s keys with the promise she’d come to claim them at the end of the day. The problem here is Sayo likes to think she knows Rinko well enough from Roselia rehearsals, and she isn’t one to take being spied upon well. She regularly closes the doors behind her in the live house, and Sayo imagines it to be no different here.

Why then?

The closer she draws, she can begin to hear the voice of one she doesn’t quite recognize. Certainly not Rinko, it’s too… masculine? Forest greens narrow; this is a girls academy, and it’s expressly forbidden for male students to be on the campus. Her walk extends into a jog and closer still, she can begin to hear this mystery guy’s words clearer.

And she doesn’t like them at all.

She can also just barely heat Rinko’s voice, impossibly quieter than she is regularly and that’s even more cause for alarm. They’re negative sounds, not even words.

The archery shed is more of a fond nickname; it’s actually a small building of wood, the size of a two-car garage with one of the walls taken down to lead out into the shooting range. It’s old, but the club does fairly well in what few competitions they go to, so Sayo is thankful for how well the school takes care of it. In this particular moment, she’s quite glad that they keep the door well oiled.

It makes no sound as she all but throws it open which gives her enough time to get a good look at what’s happening. Rinko is there and has, at some point, changed into one of the spare archery uniforms they have in a box in the back, but there is also some black-haired boy. A boy getting very, _very_ touchy feely with Rinko in spite of all the signs that she had no interest in it. In the few seconds after she opens the door, she can see many things at once: the way this _asshole_ has a grip on her opposing arm while the other hand is attempting to tug away the fold of the archery top, the uniform he wears that Sayo can’t place right now but it has to be some boys academy one by the quality. More importantly, she can see the way Rinko is shaking, the redness in what part of her face she can see. A black bow and set of arrows dropped near the open wall to the range that were likely Rinko’s. And then Rinko turns just slightly, enough so that she can catch teal in the corner of her vision and Sayo can see her eyes go wide, see that she’s crying, probably has been ever since that guy jumped her.

And then Sayo is charging forward, sprinting across the floor with a fury in her eyes. Whether it’s the fear of having Sayo catch her like this, or knowing well enough what would roughly be Sayo’s intent ( she’d like to think it’s the latter rather than the former but Rinko’s isn’t in the best mind right now ), Rinko tries to wrench herself from the assaulter’s arms. She succeeds, likely from the surprise after how subdued she’d been through the ordeal, but the force surprises Rinko herself, and she tumbles to the floor, turning only to catch as Sayo reaches the boy, and then some.

“What the hell cutie, I was just—”

Sayo’s fist is thrown forward as she gets in range, balance thrown off by just how much of herself she tries to put into it. For all her cold words and intimidating appearance, she isn’t violent, far from it. She very content to put those that try and get a rise out of her behind her, ignore them or simply walk away in favor of something else, but this was so, so different. Rinko was a friend, someone she cared for very dearly, and someone she knew very well. And this guy thought he could just go and have his merry little way with her and have his head so far up his ass as to think he was doing her a _favor_. Her fist connects with an unsuspecting cheek, and for a second, she’s disappointed by the fact that she doesn’t hear an audible crack to go in hand with the sharp cry she can hear.

The follow through nearly throws Sayo off her feet too, but she stomps down with her foot and supports herself until she’s lost the momentum. She all but towers over the prone form of the guy as he remains dazed for a couple seconds, and it seems his mouth is far sharper than his brain because when he seems to have gathered his senses he speaks before he looks.

“What the fuck!? Who do you think you are—”

And when he finally looks up, enraged blue loses their sharpness and his gaze goes wide as he meets dark green. Sayo watches the way his gaze flicks toward the band around her arm, and his eyes go wider still as he realizes the implications, and hopefully the consequences. Then they’re back to her gaze, down to her mask that isn’t as threatening as it seems, but when all he can see paired with it is the furious glare leveled his way, makes for quite a killer combo. He doesn’t even apologize, just sits there in a stunned, shameful silence, and when he finally opens his mouth to try and rectify the situation he put himself in, Sayo cuts him off.

“Get. _Out_.”

Oh he’s very eager to do that, and he almost trips over himself as he gets up and dashes out the open wall in the direction Sayo knows is the school’s gates. No sooner does he leave her sights does she whirl around, and quickly run to where Rinko is. She’s still on the ground, sitting on her knees with both arms tightly over her chest, and she’s shaking violently, and Sayo is smart enough not to try and reach out to her after what happened. She moves to sit down in front of Rinko, folding her hands over her lap so that if Rinko needs, she can look and not fear she’ll be touched suddenly. Tears drip more frequently from her chin now, and bangs cover over violet eyes that Sayo doesn’t doubt hold more unshed ones.

“Rinko,” Sayo begins gently, tilting her head to the side to see if she can catch her gaze between sections of her bangs. “It’s me: Sayo. It’s okay, he’s gone now, he’s not coming back. I’ll talk to the school and we’ll—”

“No!” Rinko’s cry is sudden, and a fair bit louder than earlier. “I-I don’t want to… t-to talk about… i-it to anyone I just… I-I just…” And then she’s shaking again, more violently than before and her breathing is growing more and more labored.

Sayo recognizes this _very_ quickly. Panic attacks are at the top of the list of things the committee goes through training for since they are, essentially, the school’s first line to anything not high-risk-security issues. They’re the closest ones to the student body, so most Summers are spent teaching new disciplinary members how to assist in various situations. 

_Think, think, you need to help her through this Sayo. You’re the only one that can right now. Don’t try talking yet, it’s hitting her the hardest right now and it’ll just overwhelm her._

“Hey, Rinko, it’s alright… let’s get you changed, okay? Into something that’ll keep you better covered, yes?” She pauses, hesitantly reaching to ghost fingers over the back of Rinko’s hand. “Not now though. Let’s just breath for now. If that sounds good, can you nod for me?”

Beneath her fingers she can feel Rinko’s quaking, and she takes several moments to respond silently: a brief nod in affirmation.

“Alright, that’s good… we’re gonna breath a little slower though, okay? It’s going to take us both, but you’ll get out of this panic. We’ll do it together.” Gently, both hands come over Rinko’s, and Sayo manages to coax her hands out of their fists, gently lacing their fingers together. “Just breath in and out slowly, do it in time with me, okay? If you’re starting to hurt, just give my hands a squeeze and I’ll stop.”

Intentionally, she breaths in through her nose, making it audibly so Rinko can follow suit. Slowly, the rise and fall of her shoulders starts to match Sayo’s breathing, and that’s good. The trembling is still there, and she begin to feel how Rinko’s skin has gone clammy, but it’s progress.

“Good, good. Really good Rinko, just like that… Do you think we can stand now? So we can get you into better clothes?”

Shakily, Rinko’s head raises, and Sayo can see her face now. If Rinko normally looks timid, she isn’t even sure what to call this, the way her she can barely make out the motion of her teeth chattering behind firmly sealed lips and the way her gaze is wild, always returning to that open wall. Even so, she manages out another, firmer nod than the one earlier. Still audibly breathing with Rinko, they get to their feet and Sayo guides them both over toward the door to the changing room Rinko probably used. It’s got her bag in front of it, so Sayo takes it up and turns back toward her.

“Good job, we’re here. We’re going to go in now, okay? Then we can leave and go home.”

They go in together, and the realization seems to have Rinko tensing up again. One hand pulls away from Sayo’s and shakily rests over her chest as though to keep it from sight. Realization dawns on her; so that’s what he’d been after. Absolutely fucking scummy.

“It’s alright Rinko, I’ll turn away. See, here’s your bag. It’s got your uniform in it and some tights. You can change and I’ll keep an eye on the door. If you need to, you can have my hand out, and just squeeze me if you need me to leave.”

And so she does, turning her eyes toward the polished wood of the changing rooms door while Rinko slowly begins to shuffle around behind her. Throughout the process, her hand never leaves Sayo unless it needs to, and even then, it’s replaced by the other. When she changes into the uniform, sliding her arms through the sleeves, the opposing hand comes to take Sayo’s hand before the first leaves it.

They’re out of the changing room quickly and in passing the shed’s door, Sayo notes Rinko’s breathing has calmed down noticeably. Good, the worst has passed. As they leave the gates of the school behind, Sayo begins to think once more. Her hand is still tightly clasped in Rinko’s own and while Sayo’s never been amused by all the couples that go around flaunting their status in a similar way, she’d much rather have people assume that rather than leave Rinko with one less thing to focus on ( one more thought for her mind to try and take up with anxieties ).

_Think Sayo, try and make light conversation. Leaving her to her own is not what you were told. Think, what does she like, what brightens her up……_

“Hey Rinko.” A gentle squeeze in case she’s zoned out enough to not hear her. “That game you play with Ako. Is it fun?”

Sayo can feel the way she Rinko hesitates, almost stopping the two of them in their walk before she quickly falls back into step. She expects only a nod in response, and is about to continue after seeing said nod when Rinko speaks softly.

“...It, uh, it is. Very.”

“Hm. That’s good. You mentioned it one time… I can’t remember what it was you said… something about fire..?” A lie, she remembers well the class Rinko had eagerly spoken of that day during the break in their rehearsal. She’ll gladly be retaught the ins and outs of the Fire Mage class, and the ‘importance of the buff to Pyroblast for end-game content’ if it means she can keep Rinko from feeling worse.

“..Fire Mage.. that’s uh… that’s the class. The one I play, I mean…”

“A-ha, that’s the one. Thank you! Would you tell me about it?”

“Ah.. well… you see, they’re a caster class… that is, they’re very strong… and can be at a range… but it isn’t… isn’t good to play a-alone… if a mage gets targeted by… um, one of the enemies… it’s better to have a tank… that’s a, um, armor-based class, to get the enemy… off of them.”

It’s a gentle chat between the two as Sayo slowly guides them to her home, and while they could have arrived much sooner if they had taken the regular path she usually does, it wouldn’t have been good for Rinko. There are a couple popular streets on the way home, and Rinko doesn’t do well with people on a normal day, trying to skirt around them as she is would be bad. They finally do get to Sayo’s home and Rinko pauses, looking up to the building in confusion.

“What is..?”

“This is my house. It’s much closer than yours, and I know for a fact mom and dad went on a date night tonight, so you don’t have to bother with formalities for them. You can relax here. Is that good?”

She looks as though she wants to turn Sayo down, and she’s worried she will for a second before Rinko squeezes her hand and nods.

“...Yes that’s… that’s fine. Thank you.”

Once they’re inside, Sayo quietly guides them up the stairs to her room, sitting Rinko down on the edge of her bed. Now that she’s got a proper look at her she’s… not entirely relieved, but still getting there. She doesn’t look too great, eyes still red and bloodshot from crying, and now that they aren’t holding hands, she’s awkwardly squeezing at some of the folds in her uniform. She isn’t shaking anymore, and while her eyes are red, she isn’t crying either, which is definitely a good sign. She’s looks still on edge, though the way her shoulders sag implies she’s also tired out ( emotionally for sure, which is probably having that effect on her energy ). How to rectify that.

“Here, make yourself comfortable Rinko. I will be right back.”

Sayo quickly turns on heel, closing the door behind her. Across from her, the sound draws Hina from her own room and for a second, Sayo pales. She’d forgotten the house wouldn’t be entirely void of others. The telltale sound of footsteps gave way to the sudden opening of the door, and her younger sibling brightly beginning to give her a greeting.

Hastily, Sayo shoots forward, clamping a hand over her mouth and bringing a finger over her own with a sudden ‘Shhhh!’

Confusion makes its way over Hina’s face, but she obliges with a quick nod. Sayo’s hand quickly grabs Hina’s wrist and she practically drags her sister down the stairs towards the kitchen, and only then does she let go and turn to face her.

“Stay quiet Hina.”

“Ehhhh, what’s goin’ on sis’? Somethin’ bad happen at school, you aren’t usually this pushy.” She bounces on the balls of her feet as Sayo turns to head for the fridge, following her out of curiosity and peeking over her shoulder. Tugging down her facemask, Sayo pulls out the jug of milk, disdainfully noting that it’s at a fourth of its capacity. Looks like mom will have to buy some more this weekend.

“You could say that.” She whirls around again, catching Hina off guard so she stumbles backwards a few steps. A glass from one of the upper cupboards is brought down and Hina tilts her head further.

“Somethin’ with Rinko? I thought I saw her before you closed the door to your room. And totally ignored me, by the way.”

Sayo shoots her a glare as she pours the glass of milk, and then skirts around the island to place it in the microwave.

“Yeah. Some guy got on campus tried to feel her up while she was in the archery shed.” And try maybe more was left unsaid because there was no proof saying that was the intent, but Sayo had a very insistent part of her brain that assumed the absolute worst. Hina’s eyes narrow and she crosses her arms.

“Eh, a guy on campus? Isn’t that, like, trespassing or something? Not to say that like, what I assume he did was totally not crime-worthy, but can’t you bring it to your boss or whatever?”

Sayo’s eyes roll and she scoffs at the phrasing. Still, it’s a valid point, and one she’d be more than happy to take up. Rinko didn’t seem to want her to at the time of it all, but maybe now that she had calmed down, it could be reconsidered. Or maybe not, it’d be whatever Rinko wanted, but if the administration looked at the security camera and confronted her about it, she’s have to eventually…

She shakes her head when the microwave alarm goes off, and she grabs the warm cup.

“It’s not what Rinko wants. Anyway, I need to get back to her. If you’re going to be out and about, just… please be quiet. I told her we would be alone so she could calm down.”

“Mmm, you got it sis’~!” Hina gives her a wink, and then quickly zooms in to steal a hug while both Sayo’s hands are preoccupied with the drink and she can’t push her away. Then she’s halfway across the kitchen, waving over her shoulder. “Good luck with her! Be good to her, she’s super sweet!”

Tch, as if she needs Hina of all people telling her that. Nonetheless, it’s appreciated that Hina understands the gravity of the situation, even though she left out the part of the panic attack. She just figured that was something more personal that she shouldn’t be telling anyone and everyone out. Just mentioning the guy was already toeing the line she had drawn herself.

She gets back up to the room, quietly shutting the door behind her to find Rinko still on her bed. She had shifted over toward one edge, leaning on the bedpost. Her head was bowed forward, and she was unmoving. Quietly, she approached until she could confirm that Rinko had nodded off. Not quite good, because she couldn’t confirm or deny that Rinko had been soothed entirely so she gently places a hand on her shoulder to nudge her awake. And wake she does, head shooting up, eyes wide despite the clear fatigue in them.

“Hey, hey Rinko. It’s just me.” It takes a second for the keyboardist to recognize her through the haze of tiredness, but when she does, the tension in her shoulders vanishes, and she lets out a quiet sigh.

“I-I’m sorry… I just…”

“Don’t apologize. If you really want to, you can go back to sleep, but I need to know if everything is okay. You’re not in any danger here, he’s not going to come back.”

Rinko swallows down her anxieties and nods. There’s not a single part of her that thinks it’s wrong. Sayo’s done so much for her today alone, and she doesn’t doubt that if… he tries to show up again Sayo will do so again. A part of her worries for the future, if she sees him again or if he tries to get revenge but she can’t focus on that now, not after just getting out of an panic attack. Ah, when did she start shaking again. Rinko glances down, sees the way her fingers have begun to nervously twitch, and the way her arms quiver slightly and she feels the need to raise her arms to cover her chest again because surely if people don’t see them, she won’t get harrassed because of them and she won’t be ‘asking for it’.

“Rinko.”

Sayo speaks firmly, but there’s a gentle edge to her tone, and Rinko looks to see her eyes narrowed in worry. A hand comes over both of hers, thumb gently running along the back of one of them. Hastily, Rinko clears her throat and looks away.

“I-I’m fine… just tired… and thinking about, uh... “

Her voice falls away after that, and she looks down dejectedly. Sayo gives her hands a squeeze and kneels down to her level. Wordlessly, she raises the cup of warmed milk up to her, and Rinko’s eyes widen in surprise. She takes it while looking again to Sayo with incredulity, and when she receives an affirmative nod, she’s quick to start drinking it. It’s pleasant and warm, surprisingly calming even if it’s just milk and she can feel tension ebb away as she drinks. She doesn’t notice as Sayo rises and makes her way to the desk at the other end of the room until she empties the glass, lowering it and licking her lips to dry them of milk she may have missed.

“If you really are feeling better, then please do rest. You certainly look tired, and trying to work yourself through it will only you and the band in the end.” But Rinko knows what she means really, thinly veiled to try and play down just how much Sayo is worrying. She can tell in the way every couple of moments, Sayo’s green eyes look to her rather than the papers she has on her desk, sees it too in the way she pauses to look at her properly when Rinko adjusts herself, shifting back so she can lay herself back. There is a soft smile on her face, and she shifts so she’s on her side and can barely meet Sayo’s gaze.

“I… I was so scared…” Sayo’s eyes narrow as she speaks, but Rinko continues on. She’s so very tired, but she can’t be certain she’ll have the nerve to give her anything beyond meager thanks when she wakes up in who-knew-how-long. “I.. I thought you might have… forgotten o-or that you just weren’t… going to show up. A-and then he …” Rinko’s voice dies out toward the end, and she quickly shakes her head, eyes squeezing shut.

She doesn’t open them to the sound of Sayo moving, nor to the shift of the chair as she, presumably, leaves it, but they do shoot open as she feels a touch to her arm. Sayo kneels down again beside her, a serious look on her face that doesn’t quite match the sort of serious looks she has regularly, but Rinko can’t quite put what it is that makes it different.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you Rinko.” The hand slides down to rest on the bed before her, hand curling into fist. “And I’m sorry that I scared you when I showed up…”

From this angle, Rinko can see the beginning of what she knows will be a nasty set of bruises on her knuckles.

“I suppose I should have reacted better toward the situation… but I don’t know, I just saw how frightened you were and it just… made me so damn angry.” The fist tightens with some of the sheets in her grasp, and her gaze sharpens to a glare at nowhere specific.

“I-... I appreciated it though… it… it meant a lot… and you… you could have just let me… let me be afterwards but you stayed… and did so much…”

Rinko exhales, and her eyelids weigh heavy over her eyes, blinking several times to try and keep herself awake.

“It… it really does means a lot. I.. I’m not just saying that… thank you for caring enough.”

Sayo’s head shakes quickly, and she frowns. “You shouldn’t have to thank me for helping you out… but know that I would do so again, and I would keep doing so. But you need to rest. You don’t know how exhausted you look because of everything that happened. Your body needs time to catch up to your emotions. We can talk more when you wake up, okay?”

Rinko nods, and a fair bit of her feels relieved. Her lids flutter closed again, and she endeavors to keep them so until she wakes up again. She smiles gently at a particular thought from their earlier conversation, and she almost misses a gentle press to her head before she feels the bed shift as Sayo lifts herself up.

Her own personal tank. She’d have it no other way.


End file.
